Artist: Various ArtistsTitle: The Sound of L.A. Vol 1+2Rating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: Jamin Warren
Who knows what’s going on in Los Angeles, but there is an honest-to-goodness music revolution going down. Maybe all the earthquakes shook something loose in the denizens of the SoCal’s producer class. Plug Research was smart to get on at the ground floor and start to catalog the nasty brand of hip-hop the Southland is throwing down with The Sound of L.A. Vol. 1+2 (Plug Research).
While most of the names are small, The Sound of L.A. thinks big. Think of the album as the highlights from a typical Los Angeles weekend. Cut Chemist starts the charade on “Coast to Coast” with a pastiche of vintage soul and dazzling breakbeats before closing with a highlight: “L.A. is the place to be.” Then Georgia Ann Muldrow, fresh off her new deal with Stones Throw, brings the electric relaxation and drags her beats over a swimming guitar lick. Finally, Black Monk and Madlib’s side project The Young Jazz Rebels ride out on the nastiest Left Coast jazz arrangements and samples and Flying Lotus pulls his best J. Dilla impression on “Two Bottom Blues.”
Sa-Ra Creative Partners is at the helm of The Sound of L.A.. Not only have the space-age funk trio been throwing remixes at everyone from Jill Scott to Roots Manuva, they managed to re-freak Kanye’s attire at this year’s Grammys. Their selection for the collection “Timeless Continuum” is as astral as the name suggests: dirty-ass snares and 8-bit detritus. While not the best cut from the Sa-Ra discography, the newest signees to Kanye’s G.O.O.D. imprint are bound to make waves with their freshman outing this summer.
Consider The Sound of L.A. a warning shot. Plug Research knows what’s up in LAX, and after listening to this compilation, you should too.